BACKGROUND:

This project was a collaboration with fellow students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to develop a fully autonomous search and rescue system based on cellular phone signal signatures.

The SAFE Drone utilizes an onboard RSSI (received signal strength indicator) to correlate cellular signal strengths to current GPS coordinates over a predetermined search zone - providing rescuers with valuable insight into any cellular devices operating in the area.

In conjunction with commercial off the shelf components, a fully customized supervisory processing board was designed which included a multi-rail, two-stage switcher/linear power system with current sensing, 32-bit microprocessor, onboard non-volatile storage, USB connectivity, and RF front end. The system controlled and/or monitored waypoint navigation, power management, RF data collection, and GPS coordinate correlation. 

PRINTS:

FULL DETAILS:

For full details including system architecture, PCB files, code, and teammate contributions, see: http://www.ecs.umass.edu/ece/sdp/sdp17/team04/